Encyclopedia Brown
Encyclopedia Brown is a series of books featuring the adventures of boy detective Leroy Brown, nicknamed "Encyclopedia" for his intelligence and range of knowledge. The first of the long series of children's novels written by Donald J. Sobol was published in 1963. The series has also spawned a comic strip and a TV series. Style Each book in the Encyclopedia Brown mystery series is self-contained in that the reader is not required to have read earlier books in order to understand the stories. The major characters, settings, etc. are usually introduced (or reintroduced) in each book. Books featuring Brown are subdivided into a number—usually ten or more—of (possibly interlinked) short stories, each of which presents a mystery. The mysteries are intended to be solved by the reader, thanks to the placement of a logical or factual inconsistency somewhere within the text. This is very similar to the layout of Donald Sobol's other book series: "Two-Minute Mysteries". Brown invariably solves the case by exposing this inconsistency, in the "Answers" section in the back of the book. Often these books follow a formula where the first chapter involves Brown solving a case at the dinner table for his father, the local police chief in the fictional town of Idaville. Encyclopedia solves these cases by briefly closing his eyes while he thinks deeply, then asking a single question which directly leads to him finding the solution. The second mystery often begins in the Brown garage on Rover Avenue, where Encyclopedia has set up his own detective agency to help neighborhood children solve cases for "25 cents per day, plus expenses - No case too small." This second case usually involves the town bully and mischief maker Bugs Meany, leader of a gang who call themselves the Tigers, who, after being foiled, will attempt revenge in the third mystery. In the third mystery the plot involves Encyclopedia's partner, close friend and bodyguard, Sally Kimball, the one person under twelve years of age to physically stand up to Bugs. She is the only reason neither Bugs nor any of his Tigers ever try to physically attack Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia tends to dislike anyone that she has a crush on, possibly indicating that he has a crush on her. Also intelligent, she once attempted to prove herself smarter than Encyclopedia by stumping him with a mystery of her own creation. However, she was beaten in the contest (although Encyclopedia admitted that she almost tricked him), after which she became his friend. In that story Bugs or his gang usually sets up some sort of trap to get Encyclopedia or Sally in trouble. However, like in the previous story they make a key mistake which Encyclopedia exposes. Later cases may find Encyclopedia assisting his father at a crime scene (rarely more serious than larceny, and Encyclopedia is always discreet when helping his father) or interacting with people around town, often exposing scams. One such example is a high school dropout and would-be con artist named Wilford Wiggins who spends time trying to dream up schemes to fleece kids out of their money. Like Bugs, his schemes have an inconsistency which Encyclopedia exposes. In some cases it is Sally and not Encyclopedia who figures it out because in her words, "You are a boy." In other words, she notices things that only a female would find inconsistent. Sally further displays her intelligence in the various mysteries in that she often can deduce who committed the crime, or whether a certain person is lying, but she simply cannot always prove it. Other recurring characters in the books include: *'Duke Kelly, Rocky Graham, Spike Larsen, Ike Cassidy, Dutch Jones, Rowdy Quilp, Carl Higgensbottom, Jess Rae'—Bugs Meany's Tigers. *'Charlie Stewart' *'Cicero Sturgess' *'Benny Breslin' *'Pablo Pizzario' *'Tyrone Taylor' Others: * Pinky Plummer, * Jody and Billy Turner, * Chief Brown, * Mrs. Brown, * Red Slattery, and * Ace Kurlasch Comic strip From December 3, 1978, to September 20, 1980, Encyclopedia Brown was a daily and Sunday comic strip syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate. The artwork was done by Frank Bolle and Donald J. Sobol was credited as the writer.http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2010/02/obscurity-of-day-encyclopedia-brown.html Legacy The Encyclopedia Brown books experienced some enduring popularity. In 1976, the Mystery Writers of America honored Sobol and his Encyclopedia Brown series with a special Edgar Award.The Edgar Awards The books were originally published by Thomas Nelson Inc. and later, by Lodestar Books. They were also published by Scholastic Inc. and Bantam Books through arrangement with those publishers. The current publishing rights are held by Penguin Books. Current editions of the books feature new illustrations in place of the originals by Leonard Shortall, updated to contemporary cultural styles. Encyclopedia Brown inspired many other crack-the-mystery-yourself mystery stories for younger readers, such as "Einstein" Anderson, and Hawkeye Collins & Amy Adams. TV series on HBO A TV series of Encyclopedia Brown premiered on HBO in 1989 with 30-minute episodes. Scott Bremner played the title role, with Laura Bridge playing Sally. The live action series ran a little over 10 episodes, which was produced by Howard David Deutsch and directed by Savage Steve Holland.[http://www.tv.com/Encyclopedia-Brown/show/25050/summary.html HBO's Encyclopedia Brown]TV series-Encyclopedia Brown It also included a 60-minute episode ("The Case of the Missing Time Capsule"). Exact episode run information is difficult to track down, but here is at least a partial list of episodes (not necessarily in airdate order), most all of which have been officially released to VHS. # "The Case of the Missing Time Capsule" (hour long special first aired in 1989 to kick off series and released to VHS.) # "The Case of the Burglared Baseball Cards" (Released to VHS) # "The Case of the Amazing Race Car" (Released to VHS) # "The Case of the Flaming Beauty Queen" (Released to VHS) # "The Case of the Ghostly Rider" (Released to VHS) # "The Case of the Incredible Culpepper" (This episode does not seem to have been released to VHS. The Movie Kids web site (http://moviekids.info/mk/epi/index.php?id=18302) offers a synopsis: The big Idaville magic show is spoiled when a lion belonging to The Incredible Culpepper is stolen. E.B. and Sally are immediately on the case and identify several suspects. With their typical detective skills they soon solve the crime and return the lion to Culpepper. The magic show finally entertains all the good folks of the town- Thanks to Encyclopedia Brown.) # "The Case of the Missing U.F.O." (Released to VHS) # "Encyclopedia Brown, The Boy Detective in One Minute Mysteries" (This episode adapted 6 of the Encyclopedia Brown stories from the books, including Encyclopedia's very first case - "The Case of Natty Nat", "The Case of the Scattered Cards", "The Case of the Civil War Sword", "The Case of the Foot Warmer", "The Case of the Bitter Drink" and "The Case of the Great Merko". This was also released to VHS.) Books Novel series The Encyclopedia Brown books, in order of publication (parentheses indicate numbers on original release cover art): # (1) Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective (1963, ISBN 0-525-67200-1, 1982 reissue ISBN 0-553-15724-8) # (2) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch (1965, ISBN 0-590-01650-4, second title reissue ISBN 0-525-67202-8) # (3) Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues (1966, ISBN 0-525-67204-4) # (4) Encyclopedia Brown Gets His Man (1967, ISBN 0-525-67206-0) # (5) Encyclopedia Brown Solves Them All (1968, ISBN 0-525-67212-5) # (6) Encyclopedia Brown Keeps the Peace (1969, ISBN 0-525-67208-7) # (7) Encyclopedia Brown Saves the Day (1970, ISBN 0-525-67210-9) # (8) Encyclopedia Brown Tracks Them Down (1971, ISBN 0-553-15721-3) # (9) Encyclopedia Brown Shows the Way (1972, ISBN 0-553-15142-X ) # (10) Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Case (1973, ISBN 0-553-15723-X) # (11) Encyclopedia Brown Lends a Hand (1974, ISBN 0-553-48133-9, reissued as Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Exploding Plumbing and Other Mysteries, ISBN 0-590-44093-4) # (12) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Dead Eagles (1975, ISBN 0-590-43343-1) # (13) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Midnight Visitor (1977, ISBN 0-553-15586-5) # (14) Encyclopedia Brown Carries On (1980, ISBN 0-02-786190-2) # (15) Encyclopedia Brown Sets the Pace (1981, ISBN 0-02-786200-3) # (15½) Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Cake (1982, ISBN 0-590-07843-7) (Co-written with Glenn Andrews) # (16) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Mysterious Handprints (1985, ISBN 0-553-15739-6) # (17) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Treasure Hunt (1988, ISBN 0-553-15650-0) # (18) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Disgusting Sneakers (1990, ISBN 0-688-09012-5) # (19) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Two Spies (1995, ISBN 0-385-32036-1) # (20) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of Pablo's Nose (1996, ISBN 0-385-32184-8) # (21) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Sleeping Dog (1998, ISBN 0-385-32576-2) # (22) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Slippery Salamander (2000, ISBN 0-385-32579-7) # (23) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Jumping Frogs (2003, ISBN 0-385-72931-6) # (24) Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case (2007, ISBN 978-0-525-47924-6) # (25) Encyclopedia Brown, Super Sleuth (2009, ISBN 978-0-525-42100-9) # (26) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret UFO (2010, ISBN 978-0-525-42210-5) # (27) Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Carnival Crime (2011, ISBN 978-0-525-42211-2) Related works *''Encyclopedia Brown's Record Book of Weird and Wonderful Facts'' (1979, ISBN 0-440-02329-7) *''Encyclopedia Brown's Second Record Book of Weird and Wonderful Facts'' (1981, ISBN 0-440-02260-6) *''Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Crimes'' (1983 ISBN 0-553-15160-6) *''Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Spies'' (1984 ISBN 0-553-15257-2) *''Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Sports'' (1984 ISBN 0-553-15269-6) *''Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Animals'' (1985, ISBN 0-553-15346-3) *''Encyclopedia Brown's Third Record Book of Weird and Wonderful Facts'' (1985, ISBN 0-688-05705-5) *''Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Cars'' (1987, ISBN 0-688-06222-9) *''Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Wacky Outdoors'' (1988 ISBN 0-553-15598-9) *''Encyclopedia Brown's Book of Strange But True Crimes'' (1992, ISBN 0-590-44148-5) References External links *Encyclopedia Brown at Thrilling Detective *Encyclopedia Brown at KidsReads.com * Category:1989 American television series debuts Category:1989 American television series endings Category:Child characters in literature Category:Edgar Award winning works Brown, Encyclopedia Category:HBO network shows Category:Series of children's books Category:HBO Family Category:American children's television series Category:1980s American television series Category:English-language television series ja:ロイ・ブラウン Category:Encyclopedia Brown Category:Pages by Rawrlego